Happy to own this unit... This is the first machine I have owned; however, it is among many I have borrowed over many years.
Assembling and acquainting myself with it took only 10 minutes.
I was very happy to buy this unit as the cleaning solution and water vessels are separate. So, I can rinse my carpets after cleaning them.
The heating unit works in just one minute after filling the water bladder and placing it back on the deep cleaner. Then...you are off and cleaning your carpets.
Using it on a 12' x 12' bedroom and a 14' x 25' great room was pretty easy and pleasureable. The result was perfection in a spotless carpet! Most importantly, a spotless carpet with little shampooing residue left behind compared to other cleaners.
Why not 5 stars as a rating from me?...Well, the following are the issues I have but am willing to deal with:
*** They say you can leave the cleaning solution in the tank until the next time you clean, which could be many months from now. I do not recommend this as the unit seemed to leak while the cleaning solution was left in the tank and the unit was merely sitting with the cord wrapped up. Simply dump the cleaning solution back into the bottle and rinse out the vessel.
*** Carpet fibers seem to adhere to the bottom of the unit behind the brushes. To avoid dislodging these fibers onto the carpet during cleaning, the bottom of the unit should be wiped down frequently.
*** To keep the unit in tip top shape, the rollers, sucking unit, water bladder, and cleaning solution vessel should be removed, rinsed, and allowed to dry thoroughly. Direction are given in the manual to remove all of these items properly; however, it requires 15 minutes of dismantling...then overnight to dry...then another 15 minutes to reassemble. Unscrewing screws is involved 4 screws...this was to access the front sucking nozzle and two rollers. To remove the water bladder and replace it seems to put a bit of wear on the bladder and I anticipate having to buy a replacement for this in the years to come. BUT...each piece that is rinsed off cleans up VERY easily and dries well.
*** The design of the water bladder-dirty water vessel is a bit odd. You fill a bladder (plastic) with hot tap water. The bladder is seated in a rigid plastic containment unit. It turns out this rigin plastic containment unit is the dirty water vessel. The water from the carpet is sucked in and resides on the outside of the clean water bladder. Clever design, but somewhat of a pain as the vacuum/ no vacuum trigger can be easily tripped if the unit bumps into furniture or you move it left or right to quickly. The reason seems to be the water sloshing around outside the bladder and inside the bladder flow and trigger the valve to prematurely open and stop the sucking. Not a huge issue, just an annoyance b/c you have to turn off the vacuum and jostle the unit a bit to get the valve to close again.
*** The placement of the accessory hose is awkward especially if you are a left-handed vacuumer. My leg would bump into the hose and the latch they have designed to secure it is not very good at keeping it secure. I had to reseat the hose 5 times during the cleaning of my two rooms... Again, an annoyance.
*** The wheels on the unit are large in diameter, which makes the unit very easy to maneuver even though it is heavy (I agree with a prior reviewer that heavy is good in a carpet cleaner). However, I question how well they are assembled to the machine as there seems to be some give left-to-right as you turn the unit...we'll see about this in the long run.
All in all, I am still quite satisfied with the unit as it does all that I wanted it to do. I am not sure that you would not have other annoyances with other brands as well...in other words, I do not think there is a perfect carpet cleaner as I have been researching them for weeks now...all of them seem to have issues in some way or another. But the issues I describe here versus the result in clean carpets...has me very happy to own the Bissell ProHeat 2X.
Not real impressed It only holds a charge for 5 minutes which is about enough time to clean up two spots or so. It is good to keep on hand for a quick clean up of a small spill but that is about it.
I use it everyday! I really like this thing! I think it's my favorite wedding gift. We have cats that live in the house and it's great for picking up loose hair and for cleaning up around the litter box. I don't think it would work well on plush carpet, but we have berber and it works great for picking things up off the surface. The bendable handle makes it easy to get under the bed and the couch.
Pros:
1. Works GREAT on my hardwood floors
2. I only charge it about twice a week (those who complained that the charge didn't last long may always use it on the highest setting or the battery may be defective.)
3. Not a bad price if you use it alot
4. Easy to remove & clean dust cup means you never have to bend down and/or tough anything
Cons:
1. Not the best on carpet, but it works good on mine.
2. Doesn't always pick up everything and sometimes has a tendency to "push" dustbunnies around instead of picking them up.
Bissell Spot Bot With two long haired cats in my home, spot removal is a big part of my life. This product does what it says it does. Now spot removal is a breeze. Fill the clean tank of the Bissell SpotBot with water and Bissell Pet Odor and Stain Remover, place the machine over the spot and press the "ON" button. The machine does the work and calls you when the job is completed.